Page 7 - Employers Supplemental Guide

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Fileid: … tions/P15A/2020/A/XML/Cycle10/source
The type and rule above prints on all proofs including departmental reproduction proofs. MUST be removed before printing.
You can send us comments through IRS.gov/ don't have to withhold federal income tax from that individ-
FormComments. ual's pay. However, in some cases you may be required to
Or you can write to: withhold under the backup withholding requirements on
these payments. See Pub. 15 for information on backup
Internal Revenue Service withholding.
Tax Forms and Publications
1111 Constitution Ave. NW, IR-6526 Independent Contractors
Washington, DC 20224
People such as doctors, veterinarians, and auctioneers
Although we can’t respond individually to each com- who work in an independent trade, business, or profes-
ment received, we do appreciate your feedback and will sion in which they offer their services to the public, are
consider your comments as we revise our tax forms, in- generally not employees. However, whether such people
structions, and publications. We can’t answer tax ques- are employees or independent contractors depends on
tions sent to the above address. the facts in each case. The general rule is that an individ-
Ordering forms and publications. Visit IRS.gov/ ual is an independent contractor if you, the person for
FormsPubs to download forms, instructions, and publica- whom the services are performed, have the right to control
tions. Otherwise, you can go to IRS.gov/OrderForms to or- or direct only the result of the work and not the means and
der current and prior-year forms and instructions. Your or- methods of accomplishing the result.
der should arrive within 10 business days.
Tax questions. If you have a tax question not an- Common-Law Employees
swered by this publication, check IRS.gov and How To Under common-law rules, anyone who performs services
Get Tax Help at the end of this publication. for you is generally your employee if you have the right to

Useful Items control what will be done and how it will be done. This is
so even when you give the employee freedom of action.
You may want to see: What matters is that you have the right to control the de-
tails of how the services are performed. For a discussion
Publication of facts that indicate whether an individual providing serv-
15-B 15-B Employer's Tax Guide to Fringe Benefits ices is an independent contractor or employee, see sec-
15-T 15-T Federal Income Tax Withholding Methods tion 2.
If you have an employer-employee relationship, it
505 505 Tax Withholding and Estimated Tax makes no difference how it is labeled. The substance of
515 515 Withholding of Tax on Nonresident Aliens and the relationship, not the label, governs the worker's status.
Foreign Entities It doesn't matter whether the individual is employed full
583 583 Starting a Business and Keeping Records time or part time.
1635 1635 Employer Identification Number: For employment tax purposes, no distinction is made
Understanding Your EIN between classes of employees. Superintendents, manag-
ers, and other supervisory personnel are all employees.
An officer of a corporation is generally an employee; how-
1. Who Are Employees? ever, an officer who performs no services or only minor
services, and neither receives nor is entitled to receive
Before you can know how to treat payments that you any pay, isn't considered an employee. A director of a cor-
poration isn't an employee with respect to services per-
make to workers for services, you must first know the formed as a director.
business relationship that exists between you and the per-
son performing the services. The person performing the You generally have to withhold and pay income, social
services may be: security, and Medicare taxes on wages that you pay to
• An independent contractor, common-law employees. However, the wages of certain
employees may be exempt from one or more of these
• A common-law employee, taxes. See Employees of Exempt Organizations (section
• A statutory employee, or 3) and Religious Exemptions and Special Rules for Minis-
ters (section 4).
• A statutory nonemployee.
This discussion explains these four categories. A later Additional information. For more information about the
discussion, Employee or Independent Contractor in sec- treatment of special types of employment, the treatment of
tion 2, points out the differences between an independent special types of payments, and similar subjects, see Pub.
15 or Pub. 51, Agricultural Employer's Tax Guide.
contractor and an employee and gives examples from var-
ious types of occupations.
If an individual who works for you isn't an employee un-
der the common-law rules (see section 2), you generally

Publication 15-A (2020) Page 5